Summit County Animal Control is at capacity. 9 ideas from activists, officials could help
Dogs are getting loose daily in Akron and when captured, residents, police and animal wardens have nowhere to take them.
The reason: Summit County Animal Control is at capacity – primarily with unclaimed pit bulls from Akron.
Since 2020, the number of dogs coming to Summit County Animal Control from Akron has risen by 41%, and many of those not going to the facility are being temporarily housed by Rubber City Rescue, a local nonprofit that catches, traps and reunites loose dogs with their owners.
Here are nine things animal activists and local officials say the community and local government can do to improve animal control services in Akron:
Offer redemption vouchers to help low-income Akron residents reclaim their lost dogs
Akron dog owners whose pooches land in Summit County Animal Control are the least likely to claim their dog compared to residents in other cities, according to Christine Fatheree, the agency's director.
Part of the issue may be that owners cannot afford the fees.
Those redeeming their dog, if unlicensed, must pay for an $18 license fee and the $18 penalty fee for having an unlicensed dog. Owners are then charged $14 for the first day a dog is in the facility and $10 for each additional day.
Creating a voucher program for residents could be one solution. The city could pay for all but the license and penalty fee, lessening the redemption cost to $36. The positives of this option are threefold: A dog goes back to its owner, another kennel becomes available at Summit County Animal Control, and it doesn’t impact the facility’s income, which has already been hit by the decline in dog licenses.
Consider revoking or amending Akron’s pit bull laws
Craig Stanley, director of administrative services for Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, and Fatheree suspect Akron’s ordinance placing requirements of ownership on pit bulls, presa canarios and American bulldogs is discouraging owners from redeeming their dog for fear of being fined and required to comply with the ordinance.
Akron could consider revoking the ordinance, changing it to be behavior-based or lessening the compliance requirements, which include:
Dogs must wear a fluorescent green collar available for a fee from the city.
Owners’ homes must display a city-issued warning sign visible from the road.
Dogs must be tattooed with a registration number provided by the city.
Owners must show they have $50,000 worth of insurance to cover injury or death of a person caused by the dog.
If outside, an unattended dog must be in a locked enclosure that has a top and concrete base with the fencing securely attached or anchored to the concrete perimeter to a depth of 6 inches.
When the ordinance was passed in 1989, veterinarians and attorneys warned the ordinance wouldn’t be enforceable.
Animal control gone astray: Akron seeing too many loose dogs, not enough shelter space
Veterinarians expressed concern about defining what a pit bull was, as it’s actually a mix of breeds and not its own. Others argued owners would simply call their dogs “mixed breeds” and not register them.
Akron has only 22 of these dogs registered with the city.
Open a city-owned shelter
It’s a daunting task, but one option Akron could consider is opening its own animal shelter.
Cleveland has its own animal shelter, which keeps the city from overwhelming the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter with its loose dogs.
More: A wolf dog, pit bulls, a 'quicker than snot' dog: A day with Akron's volunteer dog catcher
Rather than run the facility’s day-to-day operations, Akron could purchase a building and contract with another organization, such as Rubber City Rescue, to run it.
Akron Police Capt. Kris Beitzel is concerned that a city-owned facility may not be run properly because of how animals were treated in what most community members remember as Akron’s last pound, which was on North Street in Akron. Others may share this concern, but that facility was owned and run by the county. Beacon Journal records show that Akron hasn’t had its own facility since before 1939.
Expand Rubber City Rescue via the Summit County Land Bank
One of Beitzel’s suggestions was for the city to work with the Summit County Land Bank to assist Rubber City Rescue founder Laura Lawson with finding a space for her to expand her operations. After the rescue acquires more space, contracting with Lawson so the city could work with Summit County Animal Control and Rubber City Rescue simultaneously could also be a viable option.
Create a foster program at Summit County Animal Control
Summit County Animal Control has partnered with Camp Bow Wow in Cuyahoga Falls to foster dogs.
Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter relies heavily on more than 600 fosters to not only keep kennels available in its facility but to gain valuable information about the dogs' behavior outside of a shelter setting to market them, said Mindy Naticchioni, the shelter’s director.
More: Lose your dog? Or find a loose pooch in Summit County? What you need to know
“The amount of our long-term dogs that get adopted that way now is probably over 85%,” Naticchioni said. “It's just been a real game changer, because those dogs have the ability to really start to mentally struggle (after) being here for so long − and while we provide play groups and in-kennel enrichment and lots of volunteer walking and outings and pack walks, it's still not the same. It's still a high-stress environment.”
There are concerns about liability. The Stark County Sheriff's Office Dog Warden Division does not foster to the public, because if something happens to the dog or if the dog were to injure someone, the county would be liable.
Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter has found a way to cope with some liability concerns.
“Our fosters fill out a liability waiver, similar to our visitors and adopters,” Naticchioni said. “We also have a foster line they can call into with questions or emergencies.”
Georjette Thomas, founder of Pay It Forward For Pets, an organization partnering with Summit County Animal Control to revive its volunteer program, said foster programs are very valuable and work well if they are running properly.
But too often, she said, the programs aren’t well run, and animals overstay their welcome, fall behind on their vetting or aren’t correctly marketed.
She believes a successful foster program is a small one, as that prevents dogs and fosters from falling through any cracks. It also helps those running the foster program ensure fosters are getting what they need and want from their fostering experience.
Partnering with a local foster-based animal rescue could help take the administrative burden off animal control staff while providing a pool of experienced fosters to take low-risk dogs.
Make the adoption process clearer to the public
Some people have opted not to adopt from Summit County Animal Control because they couldn’t walk through the kennels and pick a dog.
One such family was Justin and Nia Couch of Copley, who in 2021 went to the Stark County Sheriff's Office Dog Warden Division instead of Summit County Animal Control to adopt a new dog.
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“We drove 35-40 minutes instead of 15,” Justin said. “So, if they're overloaded with dogs … maybe their process of making the adoption or browsing process a little easier and more inviting for residents would cause it − because we didn't need to go to Stark, we just wanted to invite another child into our home to love and spoil, and I could have done it 15 minutes away just as easily as 40.”
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Limiting access to the kennels was done to lessen the dogs’ stress and prevent negative behaviors, such as excessive jumping and spinning, from becoming permanent in certain dogs – making them less likely to be adopted, according to Stanley and Fatheree. It also protects the public from itself, as some people would act inappropriately near the kennels and put themselves in danger of getting bitten.
However, Stanley said people have always had the option to be escorted through the kennels if requested – something the Couches and some other would-be adopters say they didn’t realize. Stanley instructs people not given permission to tour the kennels to reach out to management.
Raise public awareness about Summit County Animal Control and dogs available for adoption
Though the dogs in Summit County Animal Control may not be able to visit public events because of liability concerns, volunteers and staff members making appearances or hosting events could do some good for the facility.
Fatheree and Stanley said that one of the misconceptions is that animals are euthanized for space reasons —something that hasn’t happened in over a decade.
Creating and attending events within the community could not only help dispel that myth, but also lead to educating residents on the importance of licensing, chipping and spaying or neutering their animals.
Launch a spay-and-neuter campaign run by Akron and Summit County
Thomas said she believes Summit County and the city of Akron should work together to create and execute a spay-and-neuter campaign that provides discounts on the procedures and educates the public on their importance.
“We can't shelter them enough,” Thomas said. “We are doing it, everybody's doing it. We're trying to fix it that way, because we don't have that kind of (spay-and-neuter) program in place.”
With the city and county pooling their resources, the initiative could include low-cost or no-cost spay-and-neuter events with local vets donating their time to the cause.
The location of the surgeries could be at Summit County Animal Control, which has an unused operating room after its last in-house veterinarian moved. They could also partner with the Humane Society’s MABEL Mobile Veterinary Clinic to visit low-income areas in Akron, which may have limited or no options for transportation with an animal.
City- and county-issued vouchers reducing the spay and neuter costs of local veterinarians could also play a part in this strategy.
“It will always come down to lowering the birth rates,” Thomas said. “But to get us there it’s about education, it’s about canvassing the community − the hot spots in the county that have the most amount of calls, the most amount of pickups.”
Until such a program exists, Pay It Forward For Pets is providing free spay and neuter procedures for up to 100 pit bulls and pit bull mixes in the Akron community. Those interested should contact Thomas at 330-760-0763.
Be a responsible dog owner
There are steps that dog owners can take to ensure they are not adding to Akron’s dog problem and Summit County Animal Control’s capacity issue or putting their dog in danger.
Spay or neuter your dog.
Microchip your dog and ensure that chip is registered with your up-to-date contact information and address.
Always keep control of your dog, preferably with a leash.
Consider adopting, but if not be sure to purchase from an ethical breeder.
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What can Akron, Summit County do to improve animal control services?
